Vehk

Ferraria in the sands

History

Deep in a forgotten valley of Oogade lies the bustling market of Vehk. The burning sun keeps the residents of Vehk indoors during the day for most of year, leaving this rust red valley almost deadly silent during the day. The only signs of human life easily noticed is the fort in the risen centre of the valley, with its vibrant banners flapping in the wind. However, come nightfall, the valley lights up. The street lamps come on, the people emerge from their rock hewn homes, and the markets come alive.
Inside the valley walls are hundreds are tiny streams that have cut their way through the rock. The people of Vehk have made their homes there, or have made their own out of the same rusted rock. This means that on first glance, the valley looks entirely natural. However, on closer inspection, the architecture carefully blends into the environment around it, cleverly hiding houses, shops, warehouses, colonnades, parks, and roads. Large areas beneath the top layer of homes and on the outskirts of the valley are the poorer districts, whose people use tents instead of proper stone to cover themselves. Heavy blackout curtains cover the windows of the few houses that have them, blocking out the piercing sunlight of the day.
Also within the cave are a few types of edible plants, mushrooms, and lizards, helping to sustain the original and some of the current population. Now, most food arrives by trade caravan from abroad. Living in the caves themselves is seen as quite a niche thing to do, as they are mostly used for water collection or food storage these days. However, a few high profile families and townsfolk maintain control of a cave which they use for various activities, such as social events. Each month, the Council of Matriarchs meet somewhere different to discuss town business.
In Vehk, your wealth and status is shown by what you have over your head. The poorest of the poor have a rag or almost nothing. The richest have finely decorated and gilded stone ceilings. This idea also transfers to the birthing rituals, as it yhought that the better roof you have at birth, the better you will perform in life. Thus, some of most elaborate ceiling paintings are found in the designated birthing room, and, in the middle classes, birthing centres have been built by the Guilds for apprentices to come and practice their trade. Thus, the trade of ceiling painting and cloth and silk weaving have become prosperous and common trades in Vehk, with a clear divide shown between the painters and their rich clientele and the weavers and their middle to lower class customers. This rivalry is also shown within the town's guildhall, which was also the founding place of the Sand Weaver's, Cave Painter's, and Stone Gilder's guilds. As a result of this economic interest, the area has become a world centre for the silk and cloth trade, brining in the much needed caravans that helped turn this valley from a backwater into a burgeoning city.
Much like what you have above your head, what you have on your head is also incredibly socially important (as well as how you dress as a whole).
The Working classes wear just enough to keep the dust out of places it would be best it didn't go. They wear nothing else because a) they cant afford it and b) it helps them move quicker, especially when doing physical labour. These people wear nothing on their heads. Those who work in the fields or move around during the day where specially prepared white robes that cover the entire body to reflect the sunlight whilst also trying to keep them cool enough to move. These people have matching headscarves to cool their heads or a turban if they are an older man. The wealthiest people wear darker coloured robes that are less restrictive of movement. Dark colours are a sign of wealth because it shows that you don't have to go outside or do physical labour to work. The merchant classes also tend to wear whatever is in fashion abroad at the time. The wealthy keep the general robe garment to show their connection to their cave dwelling and goat herding roots, whilst the merchants like to wear foreign clothes to show their knowledgeability and worldliness.
Beneath the town lies a large spring of water that is fed from the throughwater flow of jungles hundreds of miles to the south. The porous rock and gradual downhill gradient cause it to collect here. It is pumped up during the day so it is warm for use in the early evening. One cave stream, at the lowest end of town, is used as the sewage desposal stream, with people migrating down there before dawn to drop off their nightsoil. However, most just drop it out of their windows and let gravity do the rest.
Outside of town there are a few landmarks. Further up the valley are those who still dwell in the caves, keeping small gardens at the mouths of their homes. Eventually, the valley becomes too narrow and winding for building, becoming a maze used often in the local town mythology. Some say an army of the dead hides within, others say vampires keep their lair, others still say its demons. On the other side of town, the valley widens and spills into the dusty desert beyond. Giant cacti litter the landscape, with some of them having been carved out by goat herders. These herders are of a different culture and language to the cave dwellers, but they are friendly enough to each other, trading goat meat for water. Another feature of the desert is the hard packed road that the trade caravans use to reach the town. One of the landmarks these caravans pass on their journey is the Justice Square, an area with numerous narrow rock spires that are used by the Vekhi to perform their version of exile or capital punishment- the exiled are strung up by chains to the spire at dusk. If they can escape by dawn, they are free to leave the city. If they don't they are roasted alive by the sun during the day.
One of the most recent innovations brought to the town is the idea of the gaslamp, which are now ubiquitous in the city. The guild that brought them has set up a detachment in the city to build, maintain, and light them every evening when people are getting up. The whole valley emits a sickly orange light now, but the whole place is much safer with most formerly dark alleys basking in the glow of the gas lamp.
The biggest social problem in the town is rickets, caused by the fact that the people try to avoid sunlight wherever possible. They used to import lots of fish to make up for this, but one of Lords of the town put regulations of what kind of fish could be sold, making it more expensive, meaning less people bought it.
The town is officially controlled by the Tarran family from their keep, called Tarran's Fortress (Tarrantress). The Tarrans originally came from Ferraria, but they were outlawed by a Lord of Sapphire after an adulterous affair. The Tarran lands were seized by the Crown and used to build the Iron Lines. Some of family turned to banditry to seize back their lands, others to politics in the chambers of the Qrorce's, the Ironmoot, and even the Oboror's themselves. One branch, and the only branch still surviving today at that, fled across to sea, to Tarynia and beyond.
They journeyed for many months before coming to settle in Vehk, where the daughter of the house fell in love with the son of a very powerful local merchant. Vehk is the name the Tarrans gave to the town, as the Tarran lord deeply disliked the name the locals had for it. He ordered it removed from public records, once he had built his pretentious castle at the centre of the valley. The Vehki did not fight against his assumed command of the town because the Council of Matriarchs foresaw the presence of the Tarrans as good for them all. There was some resistance, with frequent fighting in the streets between conservatives and matriarchists, but these issues subsided within a few years.
The first Tarran in Vehk was most ambitions, marrying many members of his family into the aristocracy of Vehk. He wanted the city to be completely loyal to him so he could use them as the capital of his new nation. He built his castle at the centre of town, on a rock stack that had slowly been eroded into shape by the wind. The people of the town had never built there due to the lack of access to the top, and how much closer it was perceived to be to the sun. However, Lord Tarran had brought with him the wealth of the Tarran family, and was able to hire contractors to first dig tunnels and caves into the tough rock and then build a castle in the Ferrarian style at the top of it. However, the castle was built in a reverse heirarchy. The servants resided higher the tower, and the Tarrans in the cooler lower levels. Water had to be pumped up every day from the wells at the bottom of the stack. The highest point was a glass dome used to bake prisoners alive in the magnified sunlight, as well as providing a convenient beacon for travellers to use when looking for the town. The Lord wanted to paint himself as a founding father to rival Ferran the Miner himself. However, his family soon realised how foolish these dreams were. Like Ferraria, Vehk depended on outside trade to feed most of its population. Unlike Ferraria though, Vehk didn't have a vast supply of a natural resource to trade. It was when Lord Tarran tried to organise members of Vehk society into a warrior caste that he was killed by his son, who was far more cunning than his father.
Lord Balmor the Bloody was the second Lord of Vehk. He was to be the most influential and most hated Tarran in history. His father had arrived in the town to try and turn it into his own little country, but this did not interest Balmor. He carried on his exile, going further and further north and east until he reached the foothills of the Bloody Mountains. Here, deep in Vampire territory, he joined one of the smaller clans, gradually working his way up their leadership. Once he had their whole support, he secretly tried to send them back Ferraria in order to take back his home. However, when this failed and he hears of his father's progress in Vehk, he took the survivors of his clan there at once. He then killed his father, took control of the city, and began a reign of terror against both his family and the people of Vehk. He hoped to force them all into his clan, allowing him to use them as his army to return to Ferraria. However, the Matriarchs realised what was going on and found methods to fight against him, eventually containing the vampires to a small pocket of the city where they were eventually killed. Balmor himself tried to flee the city, but was captured, stripped, skinned, and strung up on the outskirts of the city to wait until morning. Balmor's cousin was the ringleader of this entire ordeal, and became the next Lord of Vehk. However, this one was still a clan member, and parts of the family have kept this trait even until today, locked in a longstanding conflict with the Council of Matriarchs.
When the most recent Tarran Lord died, his nephew, the son of a local and the last lord's beloved sister, took residence in the Fortress. He realised that he could not live like a Ferrarian if he wanted to survive in Vehk. He moved most of his palace into the caves of the stack itself, leaving the upper levels as a relic of his family's former vainglory. This lord then integrated himself into Vehk society, dressing himself and his family more like the locals than Ferrarians. Over time, the family gave up the dream of taking back their home in Ferraria, and instead settling down as the overlords of Vehk. The Tarrans, with the permission of the Council of Matriarchs, they took control of most of the town's economy, formalising trade deals with nearby cities and ports and regulating what kind of goods can enter the city. This action was met by great opposition by the Guilds, who opposed Tarran influence at every turn. Overall, the days of the Tarrans in Vehk seem limited, but they still bring prestige, influence, security, and, most importantly, trade to this desolate valley.

Alternative Name(s)

The Land of Night and Cast Shadows

Type

Town

Inhabitant Demonym

Vehki